Prince William traveled to Vatican City on Saturday, April 26 in order to attend Pope Francis's funeral. King Charles didn't attend the funeral, which brought together a plethora of world leaders. According to a royal expert, there's an important reason Charles decided to send William to the funeral in his place.

King Charles and Queen Camilla visited with Pope Francis during their trip to Italy—a meeting which turned out to be one of the Pope’s final engagements before he passed away on April 21. King Charles will not return to the Vatican for his funeral,

Here's the surprising reason why. Pope Francis died earlier this week and it was announced that Prince William will be going to his funeral as a representative for the royal family. Most people may be confused as to why the king won't be in attendance,